


Unyielding

by mehenisms



Series: Queen of Hearts [3]
Category: Destiny (Video Games)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Eliksni culture, Gen, Interspecies bonding
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-01-17
Updated: 2020-01-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 10:01:25
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,229
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22295230
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/mehenisms/pseuds/mehenisms
Summary: A Baron speaks to his crew. They listen with eagerness in their hearts, and find joy in his words. They will be the new brood: The House of Hearts.
Series: Queen of Hearts [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1604797
Kudos: 7





	Unyielding

A growl of respect rumbled low in the Dreg’s chest before she spoke aloud, her words flawless and smooth as she spoke in her native tongue. She was only surrounded by her own kind – no two-arms nearby, and no Queen – so she saw little reason to practice the alien vocalizations the Queen had taught the lot of them.

“Nothing but _respect_ , Weary Captain,” she began, bowing her head as she spoke to a much larger Eliksni lounging in a human-made plush booth one could have found in the bars of ancient Earth, “but why do we speak the Heartskel language? Why...why do we obey the Heartskel? She is but _one_ Ether-dead. No one comes for her when she calls but us – your oh-so-loyal crew.” She bowed her head again, and swept one arm in front of her chest in an informal salute. “Why _is_ she Heartsk--”

Before she could continue, the larger Eliksni – a Baron, it would appear, or at least a Captain with the Ether of three, judging by his size and thick war-scarred carapace – held up a single primary hand to silence her. She immediately fell silent, and dropped her gaze to the floor, knowing better than to look at him. Her mandibles chittered together in a soft sound of regret. She could feel all four of his eyes on her. She suddenly felt uncomfortably itchy.

“Heartskel,” came a deep, gruff voice, “is Heartskel because she _is_ no Kell.” The Dreg felt his gaze shift away from her, and she dared to look up at him once again as his eyes swept across the small group of Dregs and Vandals of various sizes. The Baron was silent again, and met the eyes of every member of his crew in turn before continuing, as if looking for any similar resentment for the Queen of Hearts in any of the others. “Heartskel knows she is not our Kell; does not want to be our Kell. _I_ named her Heartskel--” he gestured to his shoulder pauldron as he spoke, on which was painted a black spade with no stem: An upside-down heart, “--as we bear the symbol of her House. She commands us – by our choice, yes, - and we do as she asks of us. She rewards us with the things we need, and luxuries foreign to us. Foreign to House Dusk, and every House before it.”

A chatter of agreement traveled through the group, and Igriks, who cautiously met the eyes of her Baron again, nodded her head once and let her mandibles click in acknowledgement. He was right: The Queen of Hearts was generous to few, but for those few, she spared no expense. She had hand-forged armor to fit them all, crafted weapons from scrap that worked better than anything the crew had seen in any House, should they be old enough to remember those before Dusk. A few Dregs – herself included, but not all of them – had been born only in the time since the Houses had come together to command the Eliksni as one people ( something she noticed was lacking from any of Trethriks’ retelling of the olden days when her people and their Houses ruled a planet without outside contest ). It was difficult to imagine tribes of Eliksni at all, much less battling for resources and territory – But her Baron spoke of nobles and proud Kells who stood up for their kin, and kept them safe, warm, and busy.

“Is that not what we receive from Heartskel? Devotion and respect befitting of a House of old?” He had said one of many times, as he told his tale yet again. “Safety from the Light-bringers, from the Wolf-fetterers, from the Dusk-Fallen. From anything that could bring us harm.” 

Igriks was never so sure. Of course, the Queen of Hearts protected them, but...if there are no outside dangers to worry about, should they not fear it from amongst themselves? Some of this crew believed the Queen to be “one of them”, but Igriks could not understand: Is “Queen” not something that should bother the Wolves among them, who lived through slavery at the hand of one who called herself the same thing? Trethriks had said little more than the term is “a symbol” as Hearts uses it, but that doesn’t mean anything to her. Dusk taught her that blind loyalty can get you Ether and armor but can be a trap. Looking around at her companions now stretched out on cushions and balancing on barstools, all watching Trethriks with enthralled interest, she knew to keep such thoughts to herself.

And besides, she trusted Trethriks. Her loyalty to him was by choice, not by coercion or manipulation. His belief was not always her belief, but she would follow him before any other. _It’s not the same,_ she thought, subduing her own uncertainty.

“She calls us Eliksni,” Trethriks rumbled out a purr of satisfaction, “and she treats us as equals. Not Spider-soldiers--”

“is she not as Spider is? One Ether-dead, vying for a grip on a place that her kind does not even dare to tread?” Igriks spoke without thinking, and immediately bowed in respect and apology as Trethriks growled a low warning. Were it not for their history and Trethriks’ desire to move away from the crueler “traditions” of their kind, she was sure that she would be docked – again – for speaking in such ways if she blurted out much more.

“She calls us _Eliksni_ ,” he repeated, emphasizing the old name their people once proudly bore, “and she brings us more honor than any other House. Perhaps the future is beside her. We could raise a new brood: A noble brood, one that seeks to uphold a strong balance among all peoples once more.” Trethriks had heard of a young Captain who sought to Kell those Fallen who could bring themselves to fight alongside the Lightbearers rather than throw themselves at their Walls and die. But he knew no one could Kell the Fallen anymore: The days of the Kells of old were past. Now new Kells must rise – like Marakel, Heartskel. Perhaps the leader they need is not among them, and if one is to rise among his kind to lead them, Trethriks would have to see them himself to determine their worth. Few still live who had seen the days of old, and fewer still remember as he did. He would bow to no Fallen-Kell if they did not exude the radiance of the leaders of their world long-gone. Serve, perhaps, as in Dusk, but never _bow_. The Fallen could never truly Kell themselves again.

It would only be from witnessing the nobility of those beyond them and being awestruck and inspired by them that his people could ever recover from this marauding behavior. Something – someone – had to instill in them the desire to return to greatness, and no Kell had instilled in him that sort of reverence since Novikskel of Fyiikessil – House of Sky. He had been a Judgement Kellsguard – Raakiseneem Kels’variisis – then, and upheld Noviks’ claim to Kellhood with his very presence at her side. He remembered the ways of Judgement: The only true Kells would be those that he stood by and offered his life to. No others were legitimate. No others _could_ be. So long as Tresriiks the War-Forged lived and breathed, the old ways would never die. He may have accepted another name and another title, and his own people may not remember who he once was, but he knew. Tresriiks and Trethriks could coexist, and would have to if this new system was to change for the better. Perhaps there was no going back to the way things were, but as long as he told the legends, new broods could carry them in their iwiisehks – hearts.

“When I give Heartskel her name,” Trethriks began again after a long moment marked by related chatter amongst his crew and human-made music echoing across the room, “she will be a true Kell within our people, and the one the new brood shall know.” He stood up and began to pace in a wide arc, circling the center of the large round booth upon which several Vandals and Dregs were stretched out. He prepared to speak again with a wave of his primary hands to regain the attention of his loyal crew, his secondary pair clasped together gracefully in front of him.

“This is how our people lived, in days long past: The Kells’ Unyielding of House of Judgement bestowed upon each who sought Kellhood the privilege to lead their House, should they have been worthy, and by that bestowal alone did they rule. It was not a right, no: It was a gift; an affirmation of righteousness, of a justified claim. Only the best for our Eliksni people.” He paused to look around at his crew, at ease in their ancient Awoken-turned-Fallen surroundings, and the Dusk-Fallen who milled about enjoying the atmosphere of the tavern around them, notably keeping a wide berth around the bulky, heavily-armed and armored Hearts crew. When he began again, his tone was more solemn. “No Kels’variisis live now, save I.”

“ _You_?” A Vandal sat upright, using her arms to scoot herself into a proper sitting position on the edge of the booth. “You are Judgement? Raakiseneem Kels’variisis?”

“Nama,” Trethriks waved a hand, “nama. Was once; now Judgement does not exist. I am Kels’variisis, but not Raakiseneem – and only Kels’variisis by Heartskel’s rule. With no Kell, I am just _variisis_.”

The Vandal leaned forward, resting her secondary elbows on her thighs and setting her primary hands on her knees. “But--” she began hesitantly, though her obvious excitement was a catalyst for confidence, “--the new brood, Trethriks. They can know Raakiseneem—They can _be_ Raakiseneem. You can teach them! No more should Judgement be lost to the Whirlwind. Judgement lives with you, Wise Captain! Judgement Baron! Unyielding-- Unyielding _Kell!_ ”

“ _Naaaaa-ma_ ,” Trethriks rumbled from deep in his chest, but a few cheers and pleased shouts from some members of his crew drowned out the sound, and drew brief looks from some of the Dusk-Fallen around them. He held up all four of his hands in a gesture that asked for silence, and he received it swiftly. Something he valued in his crew – and something he knew they valued in him – was that he never had to _demand_ anything. He should merely ask and receive their respect, and he would give his to each of them tenfold in return. Such it had been since the first day of his leadership, and so he hoped it would always be. It was the way of the true Eliksni that he remembered, and to guide a crew of noble action would always be his blessing, for they heard, listened, and lived the tales of glory that he told them. He could see hope for the future in those who followed him.

“Heartskel has my devotion,” he said quietly, hands still raised, “and she should have yours as well. Follow me, and you follow her.”

A murmur swept through his crew before a hooded Vandal – a Marauder, as Dusk called them – raised his voice. “Trethriks’variises stand behind Heartskel.”

Another voice rang out, accompanied by a raised fist. “And behind Judgement Baron! Raakiseneem lives on! _We_ are the new brood, born of a new future, raised by the past!” A few guttural cries of agreement followed the exclamation. “Shall we not call ourselves Iwiisehks’variises?”

“Call yourselves as you wish,” came the pleased response from their Baron, “but know that if you seek to be the new brood, you may never again be Winter, Devils, Wolves, Kings, Exile, Dusk. You may never take the name ‘Fallen’ again. You must be what the ‘Fallen’ _were_ : Righteous in action, justified in cause. You must know that the days of old may never be part of our days anew, but that in every breath of your living lungs, in every beat of your passionate hearts, the pride of our people survives and _thrives_. In each of you are the Kells of old, living on. You now bear the grace of ancient days in every motion, and uphold Judgement with every daring glance and each well-measured choice you make from this moment onward. Be strong, my brood, for you are Eliksni once more.”

“ _Eliksni’variises!_ ”

With the pride of a parent, he looked upon these mostly-young Eliksni and felt his chest swell with contentment as they let loose guttural shouts and growls of excitement. They understood, or would with time; they wished to learn, in no small part due to their unwavering loyalty to their Baron even in the face of being led by a Lightbearer. Trethriks would teach them every detail they craved, every one he could remember. He would instill in each of them the desire to change with the wind and grow with the times, yet remain resolute in their beliefs. He would teach them the ways of Judgement, and perhaps they were right: Someday, his House could again be in good health and faith, even if it stood alone, with any new “Houses” that rose to his rigorous standards, or at the side of the humans that he deemed resolute, noble, and steadfast, like Heartskel.

Either way, he couldn’t help the flutter in his chest as he watched the moment’s reveling. Judgement would live once more.

**Author's Note:**

> Trethriks is so so wonderful ok and his bromance with the Queen of Hearts is my favorite thing in this ‘verse!!!
> 
> See the rest of the series for more installments and the main storyline.
> 
> Glossary: 
> 
> [Name]kel - Shows that the individual named has Kell status. Ex.: Marakel, Novikskel
> 
> Raakiseneem - House Judgement 
> 
> Variisis - Unyielding
> 
> Kels’variisis - Kell’s Unyielding, a title given to members of House Judgement who stand at the side of Kells; one whose presence grants a Kell the right to leadership by the rule of Judgement in the days before the Whirlwind
> 
> Nama - No; a denial
> 
> Iwiisehks - hearts, souls, “the everlasting life”


End file.
